Static distributor for pulverulent material



Jan. 25, 1966 J. ROUANET ETAL 3,231,144

STATIC DISTRIBUTOR FOR PULVERULENT MATERIAL Filed Oct. 2, 1964 United States Patent STATIC DISTRIBUTOR FOR PULVERULENT MATERIAL Jean Rouanet, Metz, France, and Gerhard Nikelshi, Peine, Germany, assignors to Institut de Recherches de la Siderurgie Francaise, Saint Germain en-Laye, France 1 Filed Oct. 2, 1964, Ser. No. 401,008

1 Claim. (Cl. 222193) The present invention relates to a static distributor for pulverulent material.

Static distributorsfor pulverulent material are known in the art andthey usually comprise a container adapted to be filled with the pulverulent material, a substantially conical fluidizing bottom permitting passage of fiuidizing gases in upward direction therethrough and positioned about the lower end of the container, an outlet passage provided with a valve seat extending through the fiuidizing bottom at the lower end of the container to permit exhaust of the fluidized material out of the container, and a valve member movable toward and away from the valve seat for opening and closing the outlet passage. .Such a static distributor 'for pulverulent material is for instance shown in the US. Patent 3,053,420. In the arrangement shown in this patent the valve seat is of substantially frusto-conical configuration and the valve member is in the form of a conical needle valve fixed to one end of an operating rod of pneumatic moving means in axial alignment with the valve seat so that the needle valve maybe moved toward and away from the valve seat foropening and closing the outlet passage of the container. l l

Experience, however, has shown that the arrangement described in the aforementioned patent does not stand up under extended use. It is pointed out that the valve seat. and the valve member cooperating therewith are subjcted to considerable abrasive action by the pulverulent material passing through the outlet passage. Such abrasive action may lead to a localized wear on the conical valvemember and/ or the valve. seat, so that a small leakage pass a ge will be created through which pulverulent material may escape even in the closed position of the valve, whichin turn will, since the valve member can only move in axial direction with respect to the valve seatbutnot tilt or turn with respect thereto, lead during continued operation of the valve to an increase of the leakage passage so that proper closing of the valve will not be obtained any longer. Itis an object. of the present invention to overcome this disadvantage ofstatic distributors for pulverulent material. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a static distributor for pulverulent material which will stand upperfect under extended use and in which localized abrasion ofithe valve member and/ or the valve seat which may lead toa leakage passage is positively prevented.

With the se objects in view, the static. distributor for pulverulent material according to the present invention mainly cornprises a container adapted to contain pulverulent material and having a bottom portion formed with an outlet passage, avalve seat in the outlet passage, a valve. member having a spherical portion adapted to engage said valve seat and being movable toward and away from the valve seat for opening and closing the outlet passage, moving means for moving the valve member toward and away from the valve seat, and connecting means connecting the valve member with the moving meansand permitting universal tilting and turning movement of the valve member with respect to the valve seat. t

The moving means are preferably arranged above the valve seat and the material in the container and they ICC preferably include an operating member having an end facing the valve seat and being movable toward and away from the latter. The connecting means connecting the valve member with the moving means preferably include an elongated connecting rod fixed at one end thereof to a portion of the spherical valve member facing the aforementioned end of the operating member and projecting from the fixed end toward the end of the operating member, and universal joint means connecting the other end of the connecting rod to the end of the operating member. The universal joint means may include a ball member fixed to the other end of the connecting rod, a hollow member having an inner semi-spherical surface fixed to the aforementioned end of the operating member and an annular member having an inner surface defined by a spherical zone having the same diameter as the inner semi-spherical surface of the hollow member, and the annular member being fixed to the hollow member and defining therewith a housing surrounding the ball member so that the latter and the connecting rod connected thereto may universally tilt and turn with respect to the operating member. Preferably, the diameter of the ball member is slightly smaller than the diameter of the inner spherical surface of the hollow member. The valve seat according to the present invention has preferably an inner convexly curved surface of revolution.

In this arrangement, the valve member will automatically center itself with respect to the valve seat during closing of the valve, even if the connecting rod is not exactly axially aligned with the axis of the valve seat. Furthermore, if the spherical valve member or the valve seat becomes worn at one side, the spherical valve member will be automatically displaced to this side during theclosing of the valve, which in turn will result in a substantially uniform wear of the valve member and the valve seat so that the arrangement will stand up perfectly under extended use and produce even after extended use still proper closing of the outlet passage.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which an embodiment of the present invention is partly illustrated in a partly sectioned side view.

Referring now to the drawing, it will be seen that the static distributor for pulverulent material according to the present invention basically comprises a container C having a frusto-conical bottom portion with an apex angle of substantially 60. The frusto-conical bottom portion of the container C comprises an outer cone 1, and an inner cone 11 coaxial with and spaced from the outer cone 1 and defining between the latter a pressure chamber 13. The inner fluidizing cone 11 carries a large number of nozzles, generally more than one hundred, which nozzles are diagrammatically illustrated at 12 and which are distributed throughout the surface of the inner cone 11 down to the proximity of the lower end of the latter. The lower end of the inner cone 11 is provided with a valve seat 4 fitted on a bottom member 17 of the container and forming with the valve seat 4 an outlet passage 15. The valve seat 4 has preferably an inner convexly curved surface of revolution. The bottom member 17 is connected to the outer cone 1 in any manner known in the art, and the upper end of the outer cone 1 is connected to a support casting 18, only partly shown in the drawing, for instance, by welding. An inlet passage 14 passes fluid-tightly connected through the outer cone 1 and communicates at the inner end thereof with the pressure chamber 13, whereas the outer end of the inlet passage 14 is connected, by means not shown in the drawing, to a source of gas under pressure, likewise not shown in the drawing. A plurality of additional vents in are provided which communicate with the pressure chamber 13 at the outer ends thereof and which have inner ends adjacent to the valve seat 4 so as to provide permanent sweeping of the inner surface of the latter.

A substantially spherical valve member cooperates with the valve seat 4 for opening and closing the outlet passage 15. Moving means are provided for moving the valve member 5 toward and away from the valve seat 4. The moving means are preferably constituted by pneumatic moving means including a cylinder 2 mounted on arms 3 which are connected in any way, not shown in the drawing, to the casting 18, so that the cylinder 2 is arranged substantially axially aligned with the discharge passage 15 above the latter and the material in the container C. Conduits 20 and 21 communicate with opposite ends oi the cylinder 2 for feeding and discharging compressed air into the cylinder and feed and discharge of compressed air into the cylinder is controlled by means well known in the art, not shown in the drawing, to move thereby a piston inside the cylinder 2, not shown in the drawing, in one or the other direction longitudinally of the cylinder. A piston rod or operating member 19 is connected to the piston and extends downwardly below the lower end of the cylinder 2,

Connecting means connect the valve member 5 with the lower end of the operating member 19. The connecting means according to the present invention include an elongated connecting rod 6 fixedly connected at the lower end thereof to the valve member 5 and carrying at its upper end fixedly connected thereto a ball member 7. For this purpose the opposite ends of the connecting rod 6 may be threaded and these ends may be screwed in correspondingly threaded bores of the valve member 5 and the ball member 7. The connecting means preferably include further hollow spherical means fixed to the lower end of the operating member 19, and the hollow spherical means comprise, as shown in the drawing, a hollow member 8 having an inner semi-spherical surface and a boss by means of which the hollow member 8 is fixed to the lower end of the operating member 19, and an annular member 9 having an inner surface defined by a spherical zone and being fixed to the lower edge portion of the hollow member 8. The outer surfaces of the members 8 and 9 adjacent to their joining ends are preferably made cylindrical and formed with a screw thread and a ring member 10 formed with an inner screw thread removably connects the annular member 9 with the member 8. The inner surface of the annular memher 9 has the same diameter as the inner semi-spherical surface of the member 8, and this diameter is preferably slightly greater than that of the ball member 7 so that the ball member '7 is held in the interior of the hollow means constituted by the members 8 and 9 while being easily tnrnable and tiltable with respect thereto.

Due to the specific configuration of the valve member 5 and the valve seat 4, and due to the specific arrangement of the connecting means of the valve member 5 to the operating member 19, it will be evident that with this arrangement a perfect fluid-tight engagement of valve member 5 with the valve seat 4 can be obtained even if the operating member 19 is not in perfect axial alignment with the axis of the outlet passage 15.

Furthermore, due to the fact that the diameter of the inner spherical surfaces of the members 8 and 9 is slightly greater than the diameter of the ball member 7, the ball member 7 will perform during opening and closing movement of the valve a slight shifting movement in the hollow means 8, 9 which will lead to a slight angular displacement of the rod 6 about its axis and corresponding displacement of the spherical valve member 5 so that the latter will, during successive engagement with the valve seat 4, not occupy the exact same angular position with respect to the valve seat so that a substantially uniform wear on the valve member 5 will be produced which will prolong the useful life of the apparatus,

The operation of the apparatus above described will be self-evident from the above description of the arrange,- ment.

Pulverulent materials such as pulverulent lime or similar powder is fed into the container C and is then fluidized through the introduction of compressed gas, such as, for instance, oxygen, through the inlet passage 14 into the pressure chamber 13, which gas will flow out of the pressure chamber through the nozzles 12 to produce a'sufiicient aeration of the pulverulent material, which will reduce its apparent specific weight and fiuidize it to an extent such that it may flow out through the outlet passage 15 when the valve 5 is open. During subsequent opening and closing movements of the valve, the valve member 5 may freely tilt and turn with respect to the valve seat 4 so that localized wear on valve member 5 and valve seat 4 will be avoided, thereby increasing the useful life of the arrangement. I

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find auseful application in other types of static distributors differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a static distributor having a spherical valve member, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features, that from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential charac teristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claim.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

A static distributor for pulverulent material comprising, in combination, a container adapted to be filled with said material; a substantially conical fiuidizing bottom permitting passage of fiuidizing gases in upward direction therethrough and positioned about the lower end of said container at a small distance from the latter to form therewith a pressure chamber extending down to the lowermost portion of the container; an outlet passage provided with a valve seat extending through said fluidizing bottom at the lower end of said container to permit exhaust of the fluidized material out'of said container, said valve seat having an inner convexly curved surface of revolution; means for introducing filiidizing gases into said pressure chamber throughthe outside of said container; a plurality of vent passages extending between said pressure chamber and said outlet passage and terminating in the latter closely adjacent to and upstream of said valve seat; a substantially spherical valve member movable toward and away from said inner surface of said valve seat for opening and closing said outlet passage; pneumatic moving means located above said valve seat and the material in said container for moving said valve member toward and away from said valve seat, said pneumatic moving means including an operating member in substantially axial alignment with said valve'seat and being movable in axial direction toward and away from said latter; an elongated connecting rod fixed at one end thereof to a portion of said spherical valve member facing an end of said operating member directed towards the valve seat and projecting from said fixed end toward said end of said operating member; a ball member fixed to the other end of said connecting rod; a hollow memher having an inner semi-spherical surface fixed to said one end of said operating member; and an annular mem her having an inner surface defined by a spherical zone having the same diameter as said inner semi-spherical surface and said diameter being slightly greater than that of said ball member, said annular member being fixed to said hollow member and defining therewith a housing surrounding said ball member so that the latter, said connecting rod and said spherical valve member may universally tilt and turn with respect to said operating member and to said valve seat.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,832,341 11/1931 Williamson 25186 2,284,720 6/1942 Binon 222-510 3,053,420 9/1962 Saint-Martin 222-195 10 LOUIS J. DEMBO, Primary Examiner; 

